The State Department today released over 4,600 declassified U.S.
government documents concerning the 1976 military coup in Argentina
and the human abuses rights that ensued during that country's
"dirty war."

The collection was presented at a press conference in Buenos Aires and
posted on the State Department web site:

The new release serves as a timely reminder of the contribution that
document declassification can make towards rectification of past
injustices and the importance of official openness in nurturing civil
society.

The history of Argentina's "dirty war" was compellingly presented in
Martin Edwin Andersen's 1993 book "Dossier Secreto."

HISTORY IN THE SUMMERTIME

"What prompted the State Department to release the hundreds of
declassified documents pertaining to Greece, Turkey and Cyprus from
1964 to 1968 now-- in the middle of the hot summer-- and not later,
creating a real political mess in Athens, Ankara and Nicosia?"

That is what a querulous reporter wanted to know, referring to the
publication last week of Foreign Relations of the United States,
1964-1968, vol. XVI. He posed the question at the August 19 State
Department daily press briefing.

There is no particular significance in the timing of the release,
replied Deputy Spokesman Philip T. Reeker.

Many of the steps taken by the government to combat terrorism in the
past year are naturally subjects of disagreement and dispute. But
what should be beyond debate is the importance of congressional
oversight to ensure both the efficacy and the propriety of those
steps.

That is why the Bush Administration's resistance to congressional
oversight is perhaps the single most disturbing aspect of the
controversial war on terrorism.

"How can we judge whether President Bush and John Ashcroft have acted
responsibly when they refuse to put all of the cards out on the
table?" asked Steve Chapman in a Chicago Tribune editorial on August
18:

"The administration's reflexive distaste for accountability to other
branches of government is not healthy," the Washington Post observed
in an eloquent August 19 editorial. "There is nothing hostile or
dangerous in responsible oversight; to the contrary, it is a critical
check and balance in our system." See: